There are thousands of baseball fields throughout the United States and the world. Each of these baseball fields has a pitching mound that is one of the most important aspects of a baseball field. There are specific rules that apply to different pitching mounds. The rules may be promulgated by various organizations in their rules for playing baseball, such as Major league Baseball (“MLB”), National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) baseball, Little League baseball, Babe Ruth baseball, Cal Ripken League baseball, Legion baseball, various high school and youth league baseball organizations, etc. The rules may include such things as the distance from the pitching mound rubber to home plate, the height of the mound, the slope of the mound, etc.
In certain organizations such as MLB and NCAA, there may be professional grounds crews that take care of the fields and the mounds to assure that the fields meet the exacting rules of these organizations. However, most of the fields are municipal, school or league owned and do not have professional grounds crews that maintain the fields. Rather, there are volunteers that give up their personal time to make sure that the fields are ready for play, e.g., dads and moms of players, high school coaches, etc. While these volunteers are to be commended for their dedication, they are not always aware of the rules or do not have the equipment that makes it possible for them to maintain the field, especially the pitching mounds to the exact specifications required by the rules.
This is especially true for multi-purpose fields such as fields that host baseball games that are played at different dimensions, e.g., a 46/60 game and a 50/70 game. These dimensions refer to the distance from the pitching mound to home plate/the distance between each base. Thus, 46/60 refers to a field having a dimension of 46 feet from the pitching mound to home plate and a dimension of 60 feet between consecutive bases (e.g., between home plate and first base, between first base and second base, etc.). Therefore, throughout this description, this nomenclature of XX/YY will be used to describe exemplary baseball field dimensions.
There are many reasons why it is important for the specifications of the pitching mound to be in conformance with the rules including such things as the integrity of the game, to provide a consistent playing field, etc. However, one of the most important reasons is player safety. The specifications of the pitching mound are provided to give the pitcher the same feel and motion that should be repeatable at any field at which the pitcher pitches. When there are inconsistencies such as non-uniform heights, slopes or landing surfaces, there is a higher likelihood of injury to the pitcher, including al in injuries that may be career threatening. As described above, when there are non-professionals taking care of fields, these non-professionals may not have the time or equipment necessary to assure that the pitching mound is standardized to the correct specifications.